Pencil on paper, roughly 11 x 16″ (28 x 43 cm); in the collection of the Morgan Library and Museum.

19th century artist Samuel Prout give us one of those wonderful drawings that is simultaneously loose and precise, and shows us something of the process of its creation in the more lightly rendered left side of the castle’s facade.

Catalonian painter Joaquim Vancells invites us into a quiet forest landscape in the heart of winter. I like the way the details of sticks, leaves and undergrowth ground us in the environment, while the meandering path in center invites us farther into the misty depths of the woodland.

Colorado painter Skip Whitcomb was trained in figure study and illustration at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, but when he turned his attention to painting full time, he found his inspiration in landscape.

His paintings revel in the light and textures of the visual world, rendered in both oil and pastel. Shadows and reflections often play a key role in his compositions, as to repeated elements and the contrasts between strong and muted value relationships.

Graphite on paper, roughly 8 x 14″ (20 x35 cm), in the collection of the Morgan Library and Museum.

Drawn on two sheets of a sketchbook, this scene is of a farm on an estate in West Sussex, England. Constable’s nuanced command of tones and delicate indications of clouds and textures makes the drawing feel remarkably complete.